It's based on the recently discovered insight that sharks are essentially colour blind. Their research led to two suits being developed to try and elude the beats. One ('Diverter') has bold dark blue and white stripes which are supposed to mirror the 'warning signs' that animals would use to intimidate sharks in nature.

"Many animals in biology are repelled by noxious animals – prey that provide a signal that somehow says ‘Don't eat me’ – and that has been manifest in a striped pattern," Prof Shaun Collin from UWA told Associated Press.

“We are using a lot of nature's technology, based on high-contrast-based banding patterns. The wearer will be obvious, and the idea is the shark will see that as an unpalatable food item and swim right by."